As part of the drive, friendly vicars have been dispatched to bridal shows to man stalls promoting Church of England weddings.

Meanwhile the website enables couples to plan their ceremony online and priests have been issued with a new guide to conducting weddings which draws on examples from television programmes such as EastEnders and Don't Tell The Bride.

The most recent figures available show that church weddings rose by four per cent in 2010 but the subsequent surge in interest on the website suggests that the increase in 2011 could be far higher.